JIMMY ROBERTS: A MANAGER'S LIFE

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I am going to take a shot at writing a baseball story for you all using OOTP 16 as the basis for the game.

This will be an entirely text story as I am on my phone doing the writing and OOTP isn't a huge graphics game with great action pictures like some of the other games.

I hate to see my OOTP 16 not being used so this is why I am going back in time to use this game for this story. So, I will be playing as a minor league manager starting in the 2015 season.

I will be playing manager mode only and will start unemployed and take the top job the computer offers me. Commissioner mode will be turned off and ability to be fired turned on.

I hope I can make it different enough and interesting enough for you guys.

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"Don't suck completely."

Well, thanks for the vote of confidence, boss!

Jerk.

I guess I could have been more grateful. After all, at least I wasn't working security anymore.

But managing the Arkansas Travelers? Was this really a good idea?

Baseball had once been my passion. I had been a stud starting pitcher in high school and had gotten drafted and sent to the minors.

And never made it to The Show.

I had gotten some stints at AAA ball but mostly lingered in AA. For whatever reason, my off-speed and breaking stuff was killer in AA but got killed in AAA. So I became a star AA player for several years.

Alas, I forgot to listen to Crash Davis. And I punched someone with my pitching hand. And broke two bones in said hand.

It didn't help that I punched one of my teammates.

It really didn't help that he was a five star prospect and first-round pick.

And that I was 32 and the parent club was ready to put me out to pasture anyways.

That was 16 years ago.

And I was done with baseball.

I didn't even watch it anymore.

I bounced around from job to job after that, making enough money to pay my bills and keep a Wild Turkey supply fresh and available.

I'd had a few offers to play and manage over the years. Mostly overseas in Japan, China and even Italy.

But I was fine staying in Texas as there was always work available.

The last five years I had worked security for a production plant that had to have been the most disorganized, mismanaged location in America. I swear the owners were purposefully using it to lose money for a tax writeoff.

Then, starting in December of 2014, thanks to Facebook, I got to talking to a couple of my old rookie league pitching coaches and one of them was still involved with the Angels' organization.

And one phone call led to another and the next thing I knew, it was March 2015 and I was in Arkansas meeting the press and the players.

"Delighted to be here, " I said.

What the hell am I doing here, I thought to myself.

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The answer was ... making $130,000 a year for the next three years! That was almost triple my security yearly earnings!

Plus, I was in the Texas League so I was practically home. I had always been a San Antonio fan in the Texas League as San Antonio was where I was born. The Missions were known as the Dodgers back when I was growing up.

Funny thing about the Texas League. None of the teams in the North Division are in Texas.

I found a Texas League dedicated blog that even made predictions. How do you make predictions on minor league teams when the rosters are changing practically weekly, if not daily. Anyways, this blog had us finishing second in the North with Northwest Arkansas finishing first.

We started the season in Frisco against the RoughRiders.

We lost the opener 5-4 in 13 innings. Kyle McGowin pitched 7.1 innings and gave up 3 earned runs on 8 hits, struck out 4 and walked none. He left with a 4-3 lead but the bullpen could not hold on.

We took care of business in the second game with a solid 5-1 win. Scott Snodgress pitched 6 innings, allowing 1 earned run on 4 hits, striking out 7 and walking none to get the win.

So, for the rubber match in Frisco, we were shut out 3-0. Austin G. Wood pitched 5 innings, allowing 2 earned runs on 9 hits, striking out 6 and walking 2.

At 1-2 on the season, we hopped the bus and headed to Midland for three against the 2-1 RockHounds.

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We had lost 2 out of 3 in Frisco and the blame fell on our offense. We had scored just 9 runs, hit .219 as a team and had an OBP of .294. And stolen just 1 base in the three games. And our defensive eff was a brutal .632.

On the positive side, we had allowed only 9 runs in three games. Our starters ERA was 2.95 and bullpen ERA was 2.45.

So we had a three game series at Midland next.

We won a wild Game 1 7-6 in 15 innings.

We fell 8-3 in Game 2. Cal Towey went 3 for 4 with a double, a triple and scored twice for us.

We then lost the rubber match 7-3 to fall to 2-4 on the season. Kyle McGowan pitched 5 innings and allowed 2 runs on 2 hits, walked 4 and struck out 5.

We would take a day off as we traveled back home where we would be hosting Frisco for three games.

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I was told "don't suck completely" when I took this job.

So far, not so good!

Sure it has only been six games but:
Only one team had allowed more runs.
Only one team had a worse OBP.
Only one team had a worse defensive efficiency.
Only one team had hit fewer home runs.
No team had fewer stolen bases.

Right now, we sucked completely.

We got to have our first home games of the season, though, against the 3-3 Frisco RoughRiders.

In the first game, Carlos E. Perez went 2 for 5 with a home run, an RBI, a walk and he scored twice as we won 7-6 in 11 innings.

We put together our first back-to-back wins of the season as we won the next game 9-7. Austin G. Wood pitched 6 innings, allowing 2 earned runs on 5 hits, walking just 1 while striking out 7 to get the win. Michael Snyder went 1 for 4 with a home run and 4 RBIs and he scored twice.

We couldn't pull off the sweep, though, dropping the finale 4-2. Albert Suarez pitched 6.1 innings, allowing 2 earned runs on 4 hits, walking 3 and striking out 7. D'Arby Myers went 2 for 4 including a solo home run.

At 4-5 now on the season, our next three games would be at home against the Midland RockHounds, who were 5-4.


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Our offense has picked it up after nine games. We are third in the league in runs scored and batting average. But we are last in the league in stolen bases.

On the other side of the equation, we are tied for last in the league in runs allowed and dead last in the league in defensive efficiency.

Carlos E. Perez leads the team hitting .389 while Kaleb Cowart has 2 home runs and 6 RBIs.

We have four different pitchers with 1 win each. Austin G. Wood has a 3.27 ERA and 13 strikeouts.

We took the opener against Midland 9-6. Perez went 2 for 3 with an RBI, walked twice and scored twice. Cal Towey went 3 for 5 with a double and 2 RBI.

The Texas League named Towey Player of the Week. He hit .571 during the week with no home runs, 2 RBIs and 5 runs scored.

We were ranked fourth in the eight team league when the new Power Rankings were released. We had been third the previous week.

We got our first shutout of the season in the next game, beating Midland 9-0. Kyle McGowin went 6.1 innings, allowing 2 hits and walking 2 while striking out 7 to get the win. Chad Hinshaw went 3 for 3 with a double, an RBI, scored a run and walked twice. D'Arby Myers went 3 for 4 with 2 doubled and 3 RBIs and scored a run.

We completed the sweep to improve to 5-1 at home and get a 3 game winning streak for the first time all season but it took 10 innings to down Midland 6-5. Eric Stamets went 3 for 3 with an RBI and scored a run.

The next day was a travel day as we went back on the road for a series against Springfield. It would our first games of the season against a divisional opponent.

And we would be without right fielder Mark Shannon. He would miss about two months because of shoulder inflammation. In 18 at bats, he was hitting .333 with no home runs and 3 RBI.

We sat in third in our division with a 7-5 record. Springfield was second at 8-4. We had a 3 game win streak and Springfield had won 4 straight.

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Our offense is starting to become a bit feared. We are second in the league in runs scored, batting average and OBP. Still tied for last in stolen bases, though. Also, on the mound, we have the second best bullpen ERA in the league.

Carlos E. Perez leads the team with a .362 average. Kaleb Cowart leads the team with 3 home runs and 9 RBI.

On the mound, Kyle McGowin tops the team with a 2.41 ERA and 15 strikeouts. Alas, while we have 7 wins as a team, no pitcher has more than 1.

So we are back on the road. At Springfield. Our first games against a divisional opponent.

We dropped the opener 9-5. Roberto Baldoquin went 2 for 3 with 3 RBI.

D'Arby Myers was promoted to Triple A Salt Lake. We received four players, Steve Garrison, Bo Way, Matt Koch and Eric Aguilera from Single A Inland Empire.

We bounced back with a dominating 8-2 win in the second game of the series. Albert Suarez pitched 7 innings, allowing 1 earned run on 4 hits, walking 3 and striking out 8 to get the win. Cowart went 3 for 5 with 2 doubles, a triple, 2 RBIs and he scored 3 times. Chad Hinshaw went 4 for 5 with an RBI and he scored twice. We out-hit Springfield 17-5.

They took the third game by the same 8-2 score even though we out-hit them 10-8.

We got the four game split in Springfield by winning the finale 8-1. McGowin went 6.1 innings. allowing 1 earned run on 4 hits, walking 3 and striking out 2 to get the win. Brian Hernandez went 2 for 3 with a walk and scored twice.

We head back home for a four game series against the first place Tulsa Drillers, who are 12-4 on the season. We are currently 9-7 and in third in the division. Tulsa is 6-0 on the road!

Tulsa ranks #1 in the Weekly Power Rankings while we are #3.

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Home for four against first place Tulsa.

We now lead the Texas League with a team batting average of .294. We are second in the league in runs scored (87) and OBP (.373). We are third in the league in bullpen ERA (3.56). We are last in the league in stolen bases (3).

Carlos E Perez leads the team hitting .350. Kaleb Cowart leads the team with 3 home runs. The new team leader in RBI is Chad Hinshaw with 12.

Kyle McGowan leads the team in wins with 2 and ERA at 2.16. McGowan and Albert Suarez are tied with 18 strikeouts each.

We took the opener against Tulsa 2-1. Tulsa's first road loss of the season. Scott Snodgress pitched 8 innings, allowing 1 earned run on 3 hits, walking just 1 while striking out 8 to get the win. Zach Wright went 2 for 3 with a two run homer in the 7th inning.

Tulsa won the next day 6-2. A 4-run 4th was our downfall. Roberto Baldoquin was our lone highlight, going 2 for 3 with a triple and 2 RBI.

The third game of the series went to us 1-0. Albert Suarez pitched a complete game 7 hit shutout, walking 1 and striking out 4. Bo Way went 2 for 3 with a double and scored the game's only run.

We took the finale 7-3 to take 3 out of 4 and move within a game of first place. Kramer Sneed pitched 6 innings, allowing 1 earned run on 8 hits, walking 1 and striking out 4 to get the win. Chad Hinshaw went 2 for 4 with a double, a triple, 2 RBI and he scored twice himself. Eric Stamets went 1 for 2 with a double and 3 walks and he also scored twice. We crossed home plate 5 times in the 3rd to pull away.

Our team took a blow, however, when our top hitter, Carlos E Perez, was promoted to Triple A Salt Lake.

We were 12-8. Tied for second with Springfield and just a game behind Tulsa.

Next up would be four home games against Springfield.

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